SnoFlake's Blog

Ran with mom.  Meant to go a bit farther today, but because I'm recovering from a cold, we thought I should ease back into it kinda slowly.  It was 48 degrees and breezy, which is my favorite kind of weather.  Besides snow and rain (though not at the same time). ;-)  I'm planning to do a 3-miler tomorrow and rest on Saturday, then have the race on Sunday, which should be a lot of fun.

Have a great Thursday, and happy October, bloggers! 

Ran on the treadmill today because it was so rainy.  I don't mean like, "Oh, it's just a drizzle, but I'd rather not run in it" rain, I mean, "Oh my gosh, that's a lot of water" rain.  Pouring.  No way was I running in it, so I watched movies and ran indoors.  I'm not exactly sure of how far I went, because at some point, the treadmill deleted my workout, and I had to start over.  But I know I had gone about 1.5 miles by that time, so my total must be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.2 or 3.21 including what I did after the treadmill did whatever it did.

Most of the time I was doing about 12-13 minute miles, but for a while I decided to dip down to 9.5 or 10 (somewhere around there), and I also did that incline thing where the treadmill tilts and you are running on a hill.  The highest I did was 1.5, but it still felt pretty steep.  Hills do seem seem to feel worse the longer you've been running, don't they?

This was my last run before the 5K.  It was easier than I expected, but maybe that's because I was running on flat for almost the whole time.  Either way, it's the farthest I've ever run before and I am very proud of myself.  

I'm sooo glad it's not hot anymore.  This cool weather is just perfect.  I love fall!  I hope it's not pouring on Sunday, though!  It's not supposed to be as far as I know,  but I never trust the weatherman. ;-)

Have an awesome Friday, bloggers! 

This was an AWESOME race.  I had a great time.  The whole family ran (me, my mom, and my dad).  The extra .5 in my total distance was my warm up.  Mom and I ran around a big gravel parking lot area close to the start line.  Dad ran barefoot, as usual, so he did not participate in the gravel parking lot warm up.  He did great, though.

I did run-walk, like I usually do in training runs.  I didn't walk nearly as much, though.  I was really happy with my time.  There were an amazing amount of kids in this race -- a couple of six year olds came in literally right behind me.  They seemed to be announcing the names of all of the kids as I was coming across, so I got my name announced!  That was really cool.

For those who don't know, I was partially running this race because I take a journalism class at a homeschool co-op I attend, and we publish a student newspaper, and I agreed to cover the race.  I was terrified about interviewing people, and in the end I only got one interview, but it was with the winner, yes the overall winner of the 10K!  He was a really nice person and really fun to talk to.  

The course was flat as a pancake with some downhill, so it went pretty quickly, but I was surprised at how fast it went by.  When I crossed the finish line, it felt like I had just started.

Oh, and by the way, for any barefoot runners reading this, tying a timing chip (the kind meant for a running shoe) around your ankle works.   My dad tested it and it worked fine.

I had a blast at this race and I will definetly try to run it next year -- maybe I'll even try for the 10K.  It feels really good to have accomplished one of my goals.  Check! :-D

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody!!!!!!!!! 

LATER:

Okay, that settles it, I am definetly crazy.  A 5K then 2.87 miles in the treadmill?  I am justifying my craziness with this: I was testing the new shirt I got at the race.  It worked wonderfully, and of course, all I really needed to do to test it was to sprint around the yard a couple of times, but I felt good so I decided to get on the treadmill.  One thing I wish I had remembered before my not-so-little evening jog: dinner in your stomach + running = stitch in my side.  Although another thing I like to remember is couch + knitting + just got off the treadmill = HAPPY RUNNER!  Hopefully I can run again in the morning -- I'm going to try to go 4 miles.  Wish me luck!:-)

Ran on the treadmill.  If I made over four miles I was going to sign up for the 8K in Victoria, but they sold out.  Well, at least it'll make my suitcase lighter -- although I probably will still bring my running stuff, just in case.  I don't need that much.  I'm considering signing up for the kid's run, but it's only 1K.  But I could jog to the start line and back to the hotel afterwards, so that would give me a little bit more mileage.  Not much, though.

Anyway, I had an extremely uneventful run, and the only thing worth blogging about is the fact that I went farther than I've ever gone before, and that the cat tried to climb onto the treadmill.  And I muddled out a problem I've been muddling for weeks.  

I'm dreading packing my suitcase, because once our cats see them, they do one of two things: they either sit in them, or they pee on them. ;-)

If I go running in Victoria, I think I will be able to blog, providing they have computers, because my dad isn't bringing the laptop.  If not, I'll just write everything down and record it when I get back.

Enjoy your week, bloggers! 

Ignore the word Marathon in the title of the race.  I wish I could say that this was the Marathon, but no.  It was only 1K.  

Allow me to say that passing people is so much fun.  At the start of the race, they had us all lined up by age.  the 10-12 group was in the front, so I felt like an elite up there about three feet from the start line.  So, you know that thing about 'don't go out too fast'?  Apparently not a lot of kids know of those wise words.  After the countdown, everyone zoomed forward and I got passed.  A lot.  For those of you who have seen the movie "Hidalgo", picture the scene where the horserace starts and it's all chaos and everyone takes off at a gallop and Mr. Hopkins is the only one smart enough to go out at the canter?  That's what it was like.  For those who haven't seen that movie, you should.  It's really good.  Anyway, the good part was that I was the only one who wasn't slowing down to a walk after the first 100 yards.  Then I got to start passing people.  Oh, yeah, and about the walk breaks... I DIDN'T NEED ANY!!!!!!!!  I was planning to let myself have one at the aid station, but since there were no aid stations (something I had not anticipated, although probably should have), I didn't get my precious walk break in.  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was out of breath by the end, though.  But still, this is very big for me.

Here are some things that I noticed about this race:

1. I was the only one who knew what she or he was doing.

2. I was the only one in running clothes (other kids were wearing things like jeans and fancy jackets and stuff)

3. I was the only one who didn't take a walk break. 

4. I was the only one who did not know anyone by my dad at the start line (everyone else seemed to know each other.  I guess they all go to the same school or something).

5. For parents and kids who didn't run together, there was an area where you could claim your child with the tear-off strip from the bottom of the bib number, and it was CHAOS.  Total chaos.   I'm so glad my dad ran with me so I didn't have to go in there.  

Of course, my wonderful father, who ran with me (barefoot -- he got more attention than the announcer before the start) knew exactly what he was doing, did not take any walk breaks, was wearing normal running clothes, and, well, didn't know anyone at the start line but me either.  And the pick up area was still chaos.

Anyway, I had a great race and it was a lot of fun.  I'd do it again next year, but I'll be over the age limit.  Oh well -- I'll just have to run the 8K then! (pretends to be disappointed) :-D:-D:-D:-D

We even got to see Auntieem before the race and had a lovely dinner with her the night before at a greek restaurant that served Fettuccine Alfredo.  Uh, isn't that Italian?  Anyway, it was very good, and I can't wait to see both her and my wonderful mom, Snoqualmie, after the race.

This race was so much fun.  I think my next race is going to be a 5K.  I'm not sure which one yet, but I will post it here when I decide! 

PS-- I got a medal, too!  YAY!!!!  And BTW, there's an extra .2 on the end of my total miles, and I'm not really sure what that was.  It was probably not an exact 1K distance.

Just a short recovery run with mom.  I'm quite impressed with myself for getting out the door this morning because I've been sleeping in and avoiding running all week because for some reason my brain thinks that I need to recover at the same pace as her even though she ran about thirty-five times farther in her race than I did in mine (I just did the math).   

Anyway it was a good recovery run (what am I 'recovering' from again?) and I had fun.  Even though I went out at my normal time, it was the darkest this morning I've ever run in.  I'm sure there's a more grammatically correct way to say that, but just to paraphrase it, it was dark.   And I didn't actually take too many walk breaks.  I think not walking in the race payed off.

Happy running everybody!